


Equal, But Opposite

by Baliseth



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: DOOMS, Death Stranding - Freeform, Homo Demens (Death Stranding), No freaking clue where this is going to go, Original Character(s), haven't written fic in years
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 10:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21492595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baliseth/pseuds/Baliseth
Summary: Higgs meets a mirror image of himself trespassing on his Beach but not everything is as it appears.
Relationships: Higgs Monaghan/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	Equal, But Opposite

**Author's Note:**

> (I'm terrible at summaries. Tags will probably be updated later.)

The world was supposed to end with a bang, not a whimper. The Death Stranding was a great bang, to be sure, but now the world was whimpering along, trying to eke out a little bit more existence. 

“I’m so tired of all the whimpering,” Higgs drawled as he gazed out across the BT—infested landscape. He could see MULES and porters in the distance and considered calling up some timefall to ruin their day. “But where’s the fun in that?” he asked himself. “They’ll just go hide in their holes until it’s gone and I won’t have anyone left to play with.”

A glint of silver on a mountain ridge caught his eye and he cursed under his breath. Damn porters and their thrice-damned ziplines dotting the landscape. He was grateful for the timefall, washing away all trace of their existence. With luck it would eventually wipe them all away but he wasn’t that patient.

The silver shimmered again, drawing his attention. That was too bright to be a zipline, and the area was dripping with BTs and, to his surprise, with power.

“What in the hell?” he whispered, pulling on his power and jumping to the Beach.

That same silver glint greeted him as he materialized on the barrens strand. Whatever the source of that light, it seemed to be following him.

“Oh no you don’t,” he hissed. “This is _my_ Beach. You don’t get to be here.” He leapt across the Beach, but when he arrived, the light was gone. “Playing games now, darling?” With a thought, he jumped back to the real world, appearing in the midst of a torrential timefall. The hood and mask protected his face, but he had to be careful to keep it from worming into his gear. When he spotted her, his jaw dropped.

It was like looking in a mirror, only things were a little bit wrong. She wore his mask, his cloak, even his BB-pod, but the colors were wrong. Instead of the chiral gold he wore like armor, her fingers were dripping with silver, and the air around her vibrated with power.

She swirled tar around gloved fingers, painting the sky just long enough for the timefall to wash it away.

“Darlin, I think you’re trespassing,” he drawled, tilting his head to one side, trying to study this new variable. She looked up from her painting just long enough to drag her silver eyes over him from head to toe, before vanishing. The disappeared so fast that the tar she’d been manipulating didn’t fall from the sky until after she’d gone.

Two footprints marked the ground where she’d stood, filling with black tar like a BT’s handprints.

“Playing a game then, honey?” he asked the empty air before jumping after her. He stopped at in his Beach to gather his thoughts and was getting ready to teleport again when he saw her tell-tale silver glow out of the corner of his eye. He hissed under his breath and stalked across the sand.

“Who the hell are you?” he snapped, struggling to maintain his cool façade. She shared his power, that much he could be sure of. Maybe even his DOOMS level. That made her either an ally or a threat, and that meant this interesting meeting could only go one of two ways.

She didn’t answer, just met his eyes and tilted her head to the side, a mirror of his earlier movement. The motion sent an involuntary shiver down his spine.

“Who are you?” she asked. 

“I asked you first, darling,” he drawled in return, clinging to his bravado like a life preserver. This woman, this…he wasn’t sure what she was…unsettled him and that was saying a lot for someone who had an army of BTs at his beck and call.

The corners of her eyes crinkled, the smile hidden behind the silver skull mask that obscured her face.

“You are Higgs. The particle of God,” she said, her voice even. Absently, she started tugging strands of tar from the earth, something that should have been difficult on the Beach but she did it as easily as brushing a strand of hair from her face.

“That still didn’t answer my question,” replied Higgs.

“I don’t have a name.”

He raised an eyebrow at that statement. He’d come across all sorts of things since the Death Stranding, things that would leave lesser men quivering with fear, but they all had names -— even if he’d had to name them himself.

“I chose mine. Why not choose yours?” he said. He was glad his face was hidden behind his mask. It did a great job of hiding the confusing that had fused itself to his features. Her power felt human — or at least Homo Demens — but humans, by nature, had names. They tend to name everything. It gives them a sense of control in a world that’s always out to get them.

She appeared to think about it for a moment, tilting her head from one side to the other.

“Call me Atomos.”

He grinned.

“Atomos. Greek for indivisible. Interesting choice. Now, Atomos, I’ve got another question for you,” he drawled, teleporting behind her and throwing an arm across her throat. “What the hell are you doing in my territory and on my Beach?”

Anyone else would have tensed at his sudden shift, but Atomos was just as relaxed as ever. She didn’t see him as a threat, and that put a knot in his stomach. She shrugged him off and stepped away effortlessly.

“I simply am. I sensed a shift in power and came to investigate. Your Beach is linked to others, thin strands that I can follow and they brought me here.”

“What are you?” he asked, equal parts terrified and intrigued.

“I simply am,” she repeated. “Doomsday is coming and you’re connected to it somehow.”

Higgs pulled his mask off, a broad grin splitting his face. “Well, darling, if you’re here for DOOMS-day, you’ve come to the right place. You’re just in time to watch the end of the world.”

**Author's Note:**

> This might be a one shot, but I might continue if the mood strikes. Also forgive me -- I haven't written any fic in over a decade.


End file.
